Illegal Alien Wins Retaliation Verdict - Brief Article - Critical Essay

An insurance company has been ordered to pay a former secretary $40,000 in emotional distress and punitive damages for reporting her illegal alien status to federal authorities after she filed an administrative complaint for unpaid wages and overtime pay.

Silvia Contreras worked for Corinthian Vigor Insurance Brokerage, Inc. for almost two years before she quit in March 1997. After Contreras filed a complaint for unpaid wages and overtime pay with the California Labor Commissioner, Corinthian called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to report that Contreras was in the country illegally, using a fraudulent Social Security number. As a result, Contreras was arrested. Her claim for unpaid wages was later settled for an undisclosed amount.

Contreras then filed a retaliation suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), alleging that Corinthian reported her to the INS to avoid liability on her wage claim. The district court found in favor of Contreras on the FLSA retaliation claim on the grounds that Contreras had engaged in activities protected by the FLSA, and that Corinthian contacted the INS to prevent her from recovering on her claims. Contreras v. Corinthian Vigor Ins. Brokerage, Inc., N.D. Cal., No. C98-2701 (order, 10/5/00).

Impact: Employers may appropriately contact INS regarding the legal status of employees or applicants, but only when the legitimate concerns raised are unrelated to any existing legal claims or complaints that have been asserted by the individuals.

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